A tropical depression heading toward the Florida Straits and the Gulf of Mexico is driving the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to redouble its efforts to shore up battered storm protections in New Orleans and surrounding parishes, just as the mission to drain the flood from Hurricane Katrina nears its end.
A forecast Sunday morning, Sept. 18, predicted the weather system will strengthen to tropical storm status, be named "Rita," and then move through the Florida Keys into the Gulf of Mexico. Its effects may threaten New Orleans' crippled defenses by Thursday, even if the storm makes landfall far away.